Refrigerator latch



March .4 s. w. PARsdNs 4 4 4 REFRIGERATOR LATCH Filed Jfi ne 272 1940 f s sheet -sheet 1 grwwvbom ST ART WRARJONJ s. w. PARSONS 2 ,234,541

REFRIGERATOR LATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jime 27, 1940 grwe/rvbom JTUAETQWQRJONSI Patented Mar. 11 1941 PATENT OFFICE aarmennaron LATCH Stuart W. Parsons, New Britain, Conn, assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 27,

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to latches and is concerned primarily with 'a latch adapted for installation inrefrigerator doors.

The object of the present invention is to pro- 5 vide an improved refrigerator latch wherein,

when the door is opened the latch bolt is forced to and releasably retained in unlatched position and, when the door is closed the bolt, upon engaging a strike member mounted on the door jamb, is released and resiliently urged into latching osition. Heretofore, because of the high pressure springs used in latches of this type for resiliently urging the bolt into latching position, the sear and cooperating stop for retaining the bolt in unlatched position have been subjected to .considerable wear which resulted in faulty operation of the latch.

It is therefore a further object of this invention to provide a latch having sear and cooperating stop members sufliciently sensitive and so designed that the least pressure placed on the bolt by the strike will release the bolt to latching position without producing detrimental .wear between the sear and stop.

A still further object is to provide a latch-of this type which ,may be inexpensively manufactured, easily installed and thereafter simply operated.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in. the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set'forth and 5 the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a latch illustrating the present invention wherein the latch is shown in latching engagement with a strike and keeper latch retained in its retracted or unlatched position; c

Fig. 5 is a front end view of the portion of the latch illustrated in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a rear end view of the portion of the latch illustrated in Fig. 3. I

1940, Serial No. 342,758 (01. 292-332) A latch made in accordance with the present I invention comprises generally a frame C ad- .justably secured within a door D and pivotally supporting a spring actuated latch bolt B. Pivotallysecured to the latch bolt is a plunger E in- 6 eluding a catch or sear S engageable with the frame C for retaining the boltin a releasably retracted position when drawn thereto by a retracting lever F actuated by a manually operable handle H. More specifically, the bolt B includes a bolt head In secured by means of rivets ll between a pair of depending flanges It. The flanges are pivotally supported on a shaft [3 journalled in the spaced side walls l5 and I6 of'the frame C. The frame comprises a U shaped memberhaving a back wall IS connecting the spaced side walls l5 and I6, and the upper extremities of the latter are provided with outwardly extending fears I! for fastening the frame by means of screws I8 20 to the door D.

In order to more rigidly support the frame C and the shaft 13 there is provided a-frame support l9 comprising a reinforcing plate 20 designed to closely engage and reinforce the underlying sur- 25 headed bolt 25 extends through. an arcuated 30.

'slot 26 in the flange 20 and is threaded into the wall I5 with a-spacing washer 21 therebetween. In mounting the latch in the door, the plate 20 is adjustably rotated about shaft l3 so as to abut the surface 23'of the door, and is securedthereto 35 by thescrews 28. Thereafter, the bolt 25 is tightened in order to prevent relative movement between the frame C and the support l9.

Referring to Figs.- 3 and 4, the plunger E comprises a pair of spaced arms 30 joined at their 40 rear e ds by a connecting wall 3| having a pair of ears 3 extending outwardly from the side edges thereof. Adjacent their forward ends, the arms 30 are pivotally secured by a stud 32 to the bolt secured in the flanges I2 thereof, adjacent the bolt head It]. The plunger E extends rearwardly through a guiding aperture 33 in the back wall M of the frame C, thereby limiting the pivotal movement of the plunger relative to the bolt. A heavy coil spring, 34 is positioned and axially compressed between, a cylindrical stud 35 on the back wall ll ofthe frame and a pair of position ing lugs 38 integral with the plunger, whereby the ears 3| of the plunger are normally urged into 55 engagement with the wall ll thereby defining the latching position of the bolt,

To retract the plunger against the force of the spring 34 there is secured between the arms 30 of the plunger E, a stud 31 carrying a cylindrical follower 38 operatively engageable with the lever F non-rotatably secured to the bolt shaft I3 as by the tongue and slot connection 33. As seen in Fig. 4, in order'to retain the plunger, anddirection, inasmuch as the plunger is pivoted on stud 32, the lever F will force the follower 38 rearwardly and upwardly to retentively engage the cooperating sear S and cooperating abutment 40. In this position, the coils ll of the spring 34- are forced out of alignment and a torque is superimposed on the axial compression of the spring.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, a keeper K, which may be mounted on the door'jamb (not shown) secures the door when, the bolt is in latching position. Upon swinging the door closed, the strike portion 5 of the keeper engages and cams the bolt head ,Ill rearwardly to disengage the scar and abutment. The disengagement of the sear removes the torque imposed on the spring and permits the spring coils II to move to aligned position whereby the plunger is rotated clockwise and the sear clears the casing abutment 43 when the bolt is forced into .the keeper K by the spring 34.

In order to manually retract the bolt, the

' bolt shaft I3 is provided at one end with an offset crank- 53 operatively connected by a bell" crank lever ii to the handle H, whereby manual movement of the handle will rotate the shaftin a clockwise direction to retract the bolt B, as heretofore described. The handle H is pivotally mounted on a stud 52 secured between side flanges 53 of a mounting 54 secured to the door by one of the screws 23. Likewise pivotally mounted on the stud 52 within the handle H is the bell crank lever 5|, one arm 55 of which extends through an opening 55 in the door and operatively .engages adjacent its outer end the crank 53. A spring 51 located on the stud 52 is compressed between the mounting 54 and the other arm 58 of the bell crank lever for normally urging'the bell crank ii in a counterclockwise direction to its inoperative position. In order to operatively en age the handle with the bell crank lever, the arm 33 carries a threaded screw 53 which extends outwardly through an arm-,- ated slot 60 in thebandle to form a lost motion connection therebetween.

Referring to Fig. I. it will be seen that upo manual rotation of the handle the portion H. terminating the upper end of the slot 60 will engage the screw 53 and rotate the bell crank lever in a clockwise'direction. whereupon the outer end of the-lever arm 35 will engageiand rotate the crank 53 clockwise and thereby force the plunger E and bolt B to retracted position. when the bolt is released to'latchingposition by engagement with the strike in the manner ,described," the crank ll, because of the force placed thereon by'the heavy spring 34. will strike the bell crank arm- 53' with considerable force;

However, because of the lost motion connection 'cured to said the screw it and slot 60, this blow cannot be transmitted to the handle.

In order to. absorb the blow a cushioning spring surrounds-the arm 55 and is compressed between the handle mounting 54 and a shoulder 66 formed on the arm. In order that the end of the spring will not engage the mounting i4 and hinder rotation of the arm 35 in the slot 33, a spherically curved washer 61, formed of brass or other suitable bearing'metal, is interposed between the spring and a like spherical depression 58 in ,the mounting 54. An escu-tcheon plate 63, having an opening 10 therein through which the handle extends,- is sprung into fixed engagement with a; second reinforcing plate ll secured to the door by the screws", thus giving the latch a more finished appearance.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

- It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be saidto fall therebetweem I claim as my invention:

1. A refrigerator latch including a frame having ,an abutment thereon, a bolt pivo'tally seframe, a plunger plvotally secured to said bolt, a scar on the plunger engageable with the abutment for retaining the bolt in unlatched position, spring means" for moving the sear away from the abutment and for urging the bolt to latching position, and retracting means for retracting said sear into retentive engagement with the abutment. I

' 2. A refrigerator'jlatch including-a frame having an abutment thereon, a bolt operably mounted on said frame, a plunger pivotally secured to the bolt having a sear on the plunger engageable with the abutment, means for retracting the boltand rotating said plunger to retentively engage the sear with the abutment, spring means for urgingsaidfl-f bolt into latching position and for rotating said sear away from said abutment.

3. A refrigerator latch having a frame, a shaft rotatably Journalled in said-. frame, a bolt pivotsecured to said bolt, an abutment, a sear on said plunger engageable with said-{abutment for retaining the bolt in an 'unlatched position, a lever fixed to said shaft for retractin'g 'said bolt and rotating said plunger to engage and abutment, and spring means for rotating said bolt into a latching position and for rota-t-- ing said plungeraway from said abutment.

4. A refrigerator latch including a frame having an abutment thereon, a bolt operably mounted on said frame, a plunger plvotally secured to said bolt andhaving a sear thereon engageable with said abutment to retain said bolt in .a retracted position, a coil spring surrounding said plunger and compressed between the plunger and the casing .for urging the bolt into latching position, and means for retracting said bolt and rotating said plung. to engage said sear and said abutment and to bend said spring out of axial alignment whereby said spring F will rotate said plunger away from said abutment when the sear and abutment are disenthe bolt to latching position with considerable force, a bell crank lever for retracting the plunger to unlatched position, a handle connected to the bell crank lever by a. lost motion connection for operating the bell crank lever to retract the bolt, and a cushioning spring on the bell crank lever for absorbing the force of the bolt when it moves to latching position.

STUART w. PARSONS. 

